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Star Trek: The Motion Picture
"The human adventure is just beginning..." When a large and destructive space cloud is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral Kirk resumes command of the refitted USS Enterprise to intercept it. Summary Act One An immense cloud of controlled energy passes through Klingon space in the year 2272. Three ''K't'inga''-class battle cruisers led by the [[IKS Amar|IKS Amar]] respond to the incursion. After their photon torpedo volley is swallowed by the cloud without effect, the squadron pulls back. A nearby Federation Starfleet listening post, Epsilon IX, observes the engagement, including the effortless annihilation of the Klingon starships by the cloud's energy weapon. Unhindered, the cloud continues on a course that will take it into Federation space, headed directly for Earth. On distant Vulcan, Starfleet Commander (inactive) Spock has neared complete attainment of the Kolinahr discipline, a complete purging of emotion. Disturbed by a new awareness of the approaching cloud that seems to speak to his Human side, he interrupts the final ceremony, leaving his recent ambition unachieved. Chief of Starfleet Operations Rear Admiral James T. Kirk arrives at the Presidio campus of Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. Meeting Commander Sonak, the ''Enterprise'''s recently appointed Science Officer, Kirk expresses his intent to accelerate the deployment of Enterprise under his own command. After a short meeting with Admiral Nogura, Kirk transports to the orbital office complex of the San Francisco Fleet Yards, nearby the drydock where the Enterprise has spent the previous eighteen months undergoing a massive refit. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott escorts Kirk to the Enterprise, piloting a shuttlepod. Protesting the limited time allotted, the engineer presents a list of problems and insists the Enterprise needs a shakedown first. Kirk plainly explains the danger of the approaching cloud, and that the only starship in range to intercept is the Enterprise, ready or not. Coyly, Kirk reveals that he'll be taking the center seat. Scotty responds with a promise that Enterprise will launch on schedule. Scott indulges his once and future captain with a thorough inspection of the redesigned and rebuilt heavy cruiser [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]]. Visible differences include two new warp engine nacelles atop swept-back pylons, a recessed navigational deflector beneath a prominent new dual-photon torpedo complex, a new impulse drive system, and a new bridge module. Boarding the ship without ceremony, Kirk briefly greets his familiar bridge crew before making his way to the new engine room, where Captain Willard Decker assists Scotty with launch preparations. The son of an old colleague and hand-picked by Kirk to succeed his captaincy, the young officer expects a friendly send-off. Instead, he's incredulous at the news he's been displaced and demoted in favor of a recently desk-bound officer unfamiliar with the ship's new systems. Kirk's attempt to apologize is rebuffed, but Decker acknowledges his new status with "Aye, Sir." A console erupts as part of a transporter malfunction in progress. Kirk and Scotty rush to the transporter to help Chief Rand, but are unable to maintain the pattern integrity of Commander Sonak and another officer in transit. Twisted humanoid flesh coalesces, screaming, then fades out. A chilled officer on the other end of the stream reports, "What we got back... didn't live long, fortunately." Kirk exits to the corridor, dismayed by the deaths. Disoriented, he asks for directions, a weak moment witnessed by Decker. Refusing to acknowledge embarassment, Kirk informs Decker that without Sonak, he'll have to perform double-duty as First Officer and Science Officer. Flanked by his senior staff on the Recreation deck, Kirk briefs the mustered Enterprise crew on their mission. An incoming subspace transmission from Epsilon IX demonstrates the relentless advance of the cloud, which destroys the station without leaving a trace. Kirk announces Enterprise's impending launch. Final crew replacements arrive. The new navigator, Lieutenant Ilia is a Deltan, causing a stir among the male bridge crew. As if a reassurance, she cites her oath of celibacy is on record. Her meeting of now-Commander Decker suggests their romantic history. Word of an officer refusing to undergo transport sends Kirk back to the transporter room, transmitting his order to beam the man aboard. A bearded Doctor Leonard McCoy materializes, immediately griping about his forced return to active duty. Kirk admits responsibility for the draft, asking for his old friend's help. McCoy asks permission to come aboard. As ready as she can be, the reborn Enterprise gracefully slips from drydock for open space under thrusters. Kirk is obviously comfortable in his new chair, and orders Lieutenant Commander Hikaru Sulu to accelerate under impulse power. At half the speed of light, Enterprise makes its way to the edge of the solar system. Act Two The ship begins to head out of sector 001, to intercept the mysterious cloud. Despite Commander Decker and chief engineer, Commander Montgomery Scott's objections, Kirk orders that the warp drive be engaged. The Enterprise flies into warp speed at first looking successful. However, the ship enters a wormhole. The crew realizes that there is an asteroid at the end of the wormhole. Kirk first orders phasers engaged, but Decker asks Chekov to belay the order and asks him to fire photon torpedoes. The asteroid is destroyed and the Enterprise is set free from the asteroid. An angry Kirk orders Decker to go to his quarters. After explaining that the refit Enterprise channels energy through the main engines, and the phasers were cut off, an embarrassed Kirk allows Decker to leave his quarters. Decker walks down the corridors of deck five on the Enterprise, only to meet up with Ilia. He explains that he was unable to say goodbye to her when he left, and asks her if she could have said it. She gently replies, "No," and goes to her quarters. Kirk then gets a hail that a Vulcan ship wishes to dock with the Enterprise and Kirk grants permission. A few hours later, the ship docks, and Mr. Spock comes on board. With the Enterprise's warp engines damaged by the wormhole. Mr. Spock's assistance is needed more than ever. With Spock on board, the repairs are made and the Enterprise is able to reach warp seven. Soon after, the Enterprise reaches the cloud. At first, the cloud fires energy bursts at the ship, the same that destroyed the three Klingon vessels at the beginning of act one. At first, the Enterprise's shield's are able to deflect the energy, but the massive energy goes through the ship, and injures Lieutenant Pavel Chekov. Another blast is about to hit the Enterprise when Spock figures out that a message could be sent, but it will have to be sent as fast as a micro-second. With the pulse about to hit and destroy the Enterprise, Spock transmits the message and the crisis is averted. With the attacks behind them, the Enterprise heads into the cloud... Memorable Quotes "...and we have an untried captain." "Well, two-and-half years as Chief of Starfleet Operations may have made me a bit stale, but I wouldn't exactly consider myself ''untried... They gave her back to me, Scotty." "Gave her back, sir? I doubt it was that easy with Nogura." : - '''Scotty' and Kirk "This 'child' is about to wipe out every living thing on Earth. What do you suggest we do? Spank it?" : - McCoy "Jim – I want this! As much as you wanted the ''Enterprise, I want this!" : - '''Decker', entering the final code to V'ger Background Notes *Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand) and Mark Lenard (Klingon captain) are the only actors, besides the original cast, to appear in both this film and the final Star Trek: The Original Series film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. * According to the Guinness Book of Records, when the movie was produced, it was the most expensive film ever made with a total production cost of US $46 million. This proved incorrect however, as the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie had an even higher budget at $54 million, though the producers didn't give the exact figure for some years afterwards. This doesn't take inflation into account, however; taking it into account, Cleopatra was (and still is) the most expensive film ever made. The budget for ST:TMP included costs for the aborted Star Trek: Phase II series, as well as the earlier false starts in getting a Star Trek movie off the ground. * Principal photography began in August, 1978. The first scene shot was the first scene on the bridge, where the camera pans the set, right before Admiral Kirk's arrival. Filming stretched through January, 1979, with the V'Ger scenes the last first unit scenes to be shot. (Second-unit scenes, such as the Klingon and Epsilon IX scenes, and the "Spock Walk," were shot in the summer of 1979.) * Robert Abel & Associates were originally given the assignment to produce the film's visual effects. However, they were unable to provide visual effects that met the producers' requirements. Douglas Trumbull, who was one of the effects supervisors for 2001: A Space Odyssey, was brought in as a consultant in late 1978, before being given primary responsibility for the film's visual effects in March, 1979. Ironically, Con Pederson, who was the second of four visual effects supervisors for 2001 (the others were Tom Howard and Wally Veevers) was one of Robert Abel's lead men. * This film was pre-sold, while it was still in production, to the ABC TV network for $15 million. That fee allowed two airings of the film, the first to run no earlier than December, 1982. Its ABC premiere was on 20 February, 1983, and its second run was in March, 1987. (ABC ran the film a third and final time in the summer of 1989.) * The film earned $11,926,421 in its opening weekend at the US box office, a record at the time. * The world premiere of the film took place in Washington, DC on December 6, 1979. It was a fund-raising event for the National Space Club. A black tie affair, it was followed by a reception with all the film's stars and Gene Roddenberry at the National Air and Space Museum, complete with an orchestra playing the Jerry Goldsmith theme. (Some internet sites incorrectly state it was at the Kennedy Center.) * Paramount sought and obtained a variety of Design Patents on some costumes, ships, and props from this movie. * The ''Star Trek'' newspaper comic strip was launched in coordination with this movie, four days prior to its premiere. *The plot and script emerged from the failed pilot for Star Trek: Phase II, "In Thy Image". The film was adapted as a novel and as a three-part comic. Saucer Separation Throughout most of the filming of The Motion Picture, a final ending story had yet to be developed. Designer Andrew Probert provided the producers with his own script suggestions for a visually dramatic conclusion, and storyboarded the key event. For the record, the possibility of the original Enterprise's undergoing a saucer separation was first mentioned in the original series episode "The Apple". But it was not until the pilot episode of The Next Generation that the maneuver was finally depicted. The Walk to V'Ger Twenty-two years after The Motion Picture appeared in theatres, the film was re-released with the intention of depicting an improved version, closer to the director's original vision. The Director's Edition added a new sound mix and new scenes to Robert Wise's classic film, but one of the most notable changes from the original version is the stunning addition of new visual effects, specifically in how the mysterious craft V'Ger, is revealed. Since the walk to V'ger scene was the climax of the movie, it was important to convey a sense of the extraordinary and fantastic by using the new visual effects to complement the original film rather than overwhelm it. Critical opinion is mixed as to whether it succeeded. Some fans are still so critical of the original cut of the film that they continue to refer to it as "Star Trek: The Motion Sickness", "Star Trek: The Motionless Picture" or "Star Trek: The Slow-Motion Picture". Production history 1970s * D.C. Fontana writes in Star-Borne about the possibility of a theatrical film: http://www.fastcopyinc.com/orionpress/history.htm * Gene Roddenberry writes a script called "The God Thing": http://www.well.com/~sjroby/godthing.html * Harold Livingston's "In Thy Image" script: * Shooting script: * Filming begins: * Principal photography ends: . (Some sequences, such as the Klingon and Epsilon IX scenes, and the "Spock Walk," were shot in the summer of 1979.) * Washington, D.C. premiere: * US theatrical premiere: * Soundtrack LP record release: December 1979 * Novelization: * Marvel Comics Super Special #15 (comic adaptation): * UK theatrical premiere: 1980s * Australia theatrical premiere: * Argentina theatrical premiere: * The Making of Star Trek The Motion Picture (book): * France theatrical premiere: * West Germany theatrical premiere: * Finland theatrical premiere: * Sweden theatrical premiere: * Norway theatrical premiere: * Marvel TOS #1 (comic reprint 1 of 3): * Marvel TOS #2 "V'Ger" (comic reprint 2 of 3): * Marvel TOS #3 "Evolutions" (comic reprint 3 of 3): * Star Trek: The Motion Picture Blueprints: * Japan theatrical premiere: * U.S. Video Release (VHS and Beta formats): October, 1980 * Photostory adaptation: 1980 * Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED): * US LaserDisc: * UK LaserDisc: * US Network Television Premiere: ABC Television Network; 20 February 1983 (This was the first public showing of what came to be called the "Special Longer Version.") * US LaserDisc (Special longer version): * Japan VHD: * Japan LaserDisc: * Soundtrack CD 1st release: 1990s * Soundtrack CD 2nd release: * France LaserDisc: * Germany LaserDisc: * Netherlands LaserDisc: * VHS: * Japan LaserDisc: * VHS Widescreen: * Soundtrack CD 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition: 2000s * Director's Edition premiere * Director's Edition Region 1 DVD: * Director's Edition Region 2 DVD: Footnotes 1 There is some controversy over the dating of the first Star Trek movie. The official Star Trek Encyclopedia, written by Michael Okuda, places TMP in 2271, stating that it took place two years after the end of the last five-year mission. Okuda places the Enterprise's five-year mission between 2264 and 2269. However, this does not account for the non-canon but sometimes-accepted events of the animated series, which some fans believe took place in late 2269 and early 2270. Furthermore, VOY: "Q2" (which aired in 2001, after the latest edition of the Encyclopedia) states the mission did end in 2270. Based on Decker's line to Kirk, the latter had "not logged a single star-hour in the last two and a half years." There is also the quote from Kirk to Scotty, "Well, two and a half years as Chief of Starfleet Operations may have made me a bit stale, but I certainly wouldn't exactly consider myself untried." This indicates a minimum of two-and-a-half years between the time the Enterprise returned to drydock (following the end of TAS) and the beginning of the first movie. This interim places TMP some time in 2272 or 2273 (depending at what point in 2270 the ship returned home). Despite the information from the normally reliable Okuda (he was, after all, in charge of maintaining continuity), the figure of 2273 seems more logical. First off, it has generally been accepted that the series ran in the same year in the 23rd century as the shows did in the 20th century, with "Where No Man Has Gone Before" filmed in 1965 and set in 2265, and thus the five-year mission ended in 2270, any TAS argument aside. Scotty and Decker state that the Enterprise had undergone 18 months of refitting; it doesn't necessarily follow that it started as soon as the five-year mission ended. The crew would have needed some rest, say six months shore leave. That still leaves six months unaccounted for; perhaps this could be tied up with planning needed to decide what new features would go into the refit and finalizing the design. With all the talk of how long it took to design Enterprise-D, this actually seems very rapid. Cast of Characters *William Shatner as Captain Kirk *Leonard Nimoy as Spock *DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy *James Doohan as Scotty *George Takei as Sulu *Majel Barrett as Dr. Chapel *Walter Koenig as Chekov *Nichelle Nichols as Uhura *Persis Khambatta as Ilia *Stephen Collins as Decker *Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand *Mark Lenard as the Klingon Captain *Billy Van Zandt as the Rhaandarite ensign (credited as "Alien boy") *Roger Aaron Brown as Epsilon Technician *Gary Faga as an Airlock Technician *David Gautreaux as Commander Branch *John D. Gowans as the Assistant to Rand *Howard Itzkowitz as a cargo deck ensign *Jon Rashad Kamal as Lt. Commander Sonak *Marcy Lafferty as Chief DiFalco *Michele Ameen Billy as Epsilon Lieutenant *Jeri McBride as a Technician *Terrence O'Connor as Chief Ross *Michael Rougas as Lt. Cleary *Susan J. Sullivan as Woman ; Crew Members: * Ralph Brannen * Ralph Byers * Paula Crist * Iva Lane * Franklyn Seales * Momo Yashima ; Klingon Crew: * Jimmie Booth * Joel Kramer * Bill McTosh * David Moordigian * Tom Morga * Tony Rocco * Joel Schultz * Craig Thomas ; Vulcan Masters: * Edna Glover * Norman Stuart * Paul Weber * Joshua Gallegos as Perez (credit as "Security Officer") ; Yeomen: * Lisa Chess * Leslie C. Howard * David Gerrold as an Enterprise crewman (uncredited) * Bjo Trimble as an Enterprise crewman (uncredited) Crew ; Technical Assistants: * Sayra Hummel * Junero Jennings ; Stunts * Robert Bralver * William Couch * Keith I. Jensen * John Hugh McKnight * Screenplay by Harold Livingston * Makeup designed by Fred Phillips * Costumes designed by Robert Fletcher References ''Amar'', IKC; Andorians; air tram; air tram station; astronomical unit; biofunction monitor; ''Columbia'', USS; ''Constitution''-class; Creator; Drydock; Deltans; Delta IV; emergency evacuation thruster pack; ''Entente'', USS; ''Enterprise'', USS; exocrine system; God; hertz; inertial stabilizer; Klingons; kolinahr; K't'inga class; linguacode; Machine Planet; ''Merrimack'', USS; Nogura; Oath of Celibacy; orbital office complex; Probert (Commodore); Quad L-14; ''Revere'', USS; spray applicator; ''Surak''; travel pod; Vulcan master; wormhole Background references Aaamazzarites; Arcturians; Betelgeusians; Betelgeuse II; [[USS Enterprise (XCV 330)|USS Enterprise (XCV 330)]]; ''Federation''-class; ''Hermes''-class; K'normians; Kazarites; Megarites; O'Ryan's Planet; ''Ptolemy''-class; Rhaandarites; Rigellians; ''Saladin''-class; Sauria; Saurian; Shamin; Zaran II; Zaranites External Links * * Motion Picture, The de:Star Trek: Der Film es:Star Trek I: The Motion Picture fr:Star Trek: The Motion Picture nl:Star Trek: The Motion Picture pl:Star Trek: the Motion Picture sv:Star Trek: The Motion Picture